Since 2016, Ravi Velhal, who leads Digital Media Standards, Technologies and Immersive Cinema programs globally at Intel, started bringing plethora of VR technologies and major Hollywood immersive co-productions worldwide

Since past 25 years, Intel has been at the forefront of emerging technologies used by the entertainment industry to deliver rich content and provide consumers with exciting immersive digital experiences today. Pioneered by Intel’s legendary CEO Andy Grove in the early 1990s, Intel has been driving and establishing content / technology policy and standards between the Hollywood, consumer electronics and technology providers.

Major studios, post production and visual effects companies leverage Intel technologies from creation to distribution and consumption-such as Intel® Xeon® Scalable and Intel® Core™ processors, Intel® Optane™ memory technology, 5G networking solutions, and development toolkits like SDVis for open source raytracing — to unleash the best viewing experiences for consumers.

Ravi will throw light on cutting-edge technologies for immersive and interactive content production at CannesXR 2020 and his colleague Sarah Vick, Building Shared Sense of Humanity using Volumetric Studio highlighting state-of-the-art Intel Studios, touted as world’s largest Volumetric Studio, where iconic and pioneering immersive experience such as ‘Grease- You are the one that I want’ was filmed with more than 5 trillion pixels.

Advancing story powered by tech, Intel collaborated with Sony Pictures last year to produce virtual reality experiences based on ‘Spider-Man: Far From Home’, which allows participants to enjoy a web-slinging thrill ride from Spider-Man’s perspective, experience delivered first at Mobile World Congress 2019 leveraging ultra-low-latency over 5G for multiplayer VRE.

Created by the The Museum of Tomorrow, Rio de Janeiro presents RePangeia – a Technoshamanistic experience in Virtual Reality developed in collaboration with Imagined by Intel. Inspired by Tecnoshamanism, the experience seeks to engage with the perspectives of traditional indigenous Tupinambá and Tikuna tribal communities of lower Amazonian Brazilian rainforest to rethink the future to explore possibilities to create a connection between traditional ancestral knowledge using the virtual reality and volumetric technology with depth data of tribe’s ritualistic dance performance. Immersive technology offers The RePangeia ritual extends from the real world into the virtual. Before entering the Virtual World, participants take off their shoes and put on indigenous ankle rattles. In the experience, they follow the movements of the Holographic volumetrically captured Indigenous Guide in a spiritual dance. Participants can see their own hands represented as glowing energy fields in the experience. Through touch, they build up their own energy and can share energy between themselves and the guide to experience mindfulness in the Natural World around them.

Directed by Marcela Sabino, experiences such as Repangea highlights potential of immersive technologies that are available to the content creators around the world to take their story forward. Since 2016, Ravi Velhal, who leads Digital Media Standards, Technologies and Immersive Cinema programs globally at Intel, started bringing plethora of VR immersive technologies and knowhow worldwide, including Brazil and Colombia in South America and began collaborating with Brazilian content creators, studios, which led him to direct first ever Virtual Reality production of Rio Carnival Virtual Reality Experience in 2018 which was released at Marche Du Films at 71st Cannes Film Festival in 2018 ago along with Save Every Breathe-Dunkirk VRE and Prelude to LeMusk VRE Cinema by A R Rahman, two time Oscar and Grammy Winner on a Positron VR motion chair emitting scent, paved the way for dedicated CannesXR exhibition category for immersive Cinema at Cannes.

Last year (2019), Ravi and Intel team brought Grease Volumetric Song Experience (Intel, Paramount Pictures), FirstMan VRE (Universal Pictures, RYOT, CreateVR and Intel) and Scent of a Song from LeMusk Cinema VRE, with AR Rahman’s appearance at the CannesXR joint Keynote, all co-produced by Intel.

During this unprecedented time, Marché du Film as a part of 73rd Cannes Film Festival is bringing CannesXR online and virtual, highlighting the XR industry and to foster link between creators and industry partners in the XR sector online. Cannes XR Virtual (June 24-26,2020) is a three day online and virtual event dedicated to Immersive Entertainment, in order to adapt to current situation, to reshape a groundbreaking event online and in Virtual Reality, a program fully dedicated to immersive technologies and works, in connection with the art of storytelling and the film industry. At CannesXR, Ravi will be speaking about cutting-edge technologies for immersive and interactive content production (see box for more details).

Rahman & Ravi

Hands around the world project, unique way to bring immersive technology and music together for climate change awareness According to Oscar-Grammy winner A R Rahman, “Hands Around the World” it is a unique project that brings together music and technology to create awareness about climate change. There is a lot spoken about climate change, but I feel this is the time for all of us to come together and take action. Ravi Velhal from Intel, who is one of the technical advisors for my Le Musk project, pitched my name to Neil and Ken, saying AR will be the right person for this project. So, they did their research, watched my show Harmony on Amazon Prime and after that, asked me to compose a song for Hands Around The World.’ A R Rahman recorded “Hands Around the World” song in LA and launched its teaser recently during COVID crisis on Earth’s day